A landfill is being planned less than two miles from Joshua Tree National Park in southern California's Mojave Desert.

November 1, 1999
Web posted at: 12:05 p.m. EST (1705 GMT)

Despite the fact that the California Desert Protection Act celebrated its fifth anniversary Sunday, the unique plants and wildlife of the Mojave Desert of Nevada and southern California continue to be threatened by human impact, pollution and sprawl. Both the National Parks and Conservation Association and the United States Geological Survey have released reports on the status of this fragile ecosystem.

President Clinton signed the act in 1994, establishing more than 7 million acres of desert wilderness, creating the Mojave National Preserve and expanding and upgrading Joshua Tree and Death Valley national monuments into National Parks. The Bureau of Land Management also has jurisdiction over millions of acres of land in the desert.

Las Vegas expansion threatening desert

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In "Defending the Desert," NPCA reports that continued growth in southern California and the Las Vegas area is putting pressure on the fragile desert. The report also closely looks at how the three national park units - Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve - in southern California work to protect desert wilderness and fragile animals and plants while coping with mining, grazing, pollution and development. Two main proposals are currently threatening the desert, according to NPCA: a new Las Vegas airport and a landfill near Joshua Tree National Park.

"But while the Park Service is now working to establish safeguards for the desert, the BLM is turning over land to promote development right up to the parks' gates," said Brian Huse, NPCA Pacific regional director.

Current legislation in Congress would allow the BLM to sell public land to Clark County, Nev., for a new airport to service the Las Vegas area. The facility is proposed at a site 10 miles from the Mojave National Preserve in the Ivanpah Valley along Interstate 15. NPCA says the airport will instigate commercial development and will bring an additional flight over the preserve every nine minutes. The preserve provides habitat for desert tortoises, which have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

"The existing airport is operating at 60 percent capacity. In 10 to 15 years, the city is expecting to outgrow McCarran (International Airport)," said Helen Wagenvoord of NPCA. But, the BLM has not taken the required steps - allowing full public review of environmental impacts and alternative sites - to legally sell the land, according to NPCA.

Congress is expected to decide on the issue by mid-November.

Proposed landfill to border Joshua Tree

The Eagle Mountain landfill, is one permit away from becoming a permanent fixture in the desert. The proposed site is one and a half miles from the border of Joshua Tree National Park. The landfill would cover 2,300 acres, accept up to 20,000 tons of waste per day and operate for 115 years, according to NPCA. The landfill site was formerly an iron mine. After ownership changed hands, the landfill was proposed to reclaim the vast open pits left behind from years of mining, but the amount of land was not enough for a profitable landfill. As a result, the BLM agreed to transfer 3,481 acres of public lands surrounding the mine to the company proposing the landfill.

The Park Service opposes both the landfill and the airport.

Eureka Dunes in Death Valley National Park are a unique feature of the Mojave Desert.

Fragility of desert ecosystems emphasized

High temperatures, intense sun, strong winds, low soil fertility and minimal rainfall slow natural restoration of the desert ecosystem. "The desert looks tough but it is extremely vulnerable to damage," said ecologist Dr. David Bainbridge of the U.S. International University. "While it may appear that driving on the bare areas between plants will do no harm, we now know that the plant roots extend throughout these bare areas and that crushing the soil will cause damage that is very hard to fix."

Bainbridge and USGS biologist Dr. Jeffrey E. Lovich wrote a report for the USGS based on the first comprehensive review of more than 150 studies by university and government scientists. The report concludes that there is room in the desert to support a variety of human needs and preserve wide areas in their natural state.

"The important lesson from the many studies of desert recovery and restoration is to avoid damage rather than to fix it," said Bainbridge. "Natural recovery may take hundreds or thousands of years and even with intensive restoration work, recovery can take many years."

The scientists identified recreational use of off-road vehicles, invasive non-native plants, construction of overhead power transmission lines and trenches, Over-grazing by cattle and sheep and military exercises as causing the most negative harm to the desert ecosystem.

The USGS report, "Anthropogenic Degradation of the Southern California Desert Ecosystem and Prospects for Natural Recovery and Restoration," was published in the journal Environmental Management.

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